Celgene's Otezla Sale Shows FTC Wants Merging Companies To Ditch Marketed, Not Pipeline, Products

 
• By Brenda Sandburg
  
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Companies used to be able to pick which overlapping products to divest to get US Federal Trade Commission merger approval but an FTC study showed certain divestitures weren't working.

WASHINGTON, DC - SEPTEMBER 28, 2013: Federal Trade Commission Building in Washington, DC.
FTC Requirements for the Celgene/Bristol-Myers Squibb Merger Reflect its Policy Shift on asset divestment.

Celgene Corp.'s decision to sell its blockbuster psoriasis drug Otezla (apremilast) to win US Federal Trade Commission approval of its merger with Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. surprised many investors, as the treatment overlapped with a BMS late stage pipeline product and the companies could have tried to divest that asset instead of a proven money maker. But the FTC signaled last year that it would prefer merging companies get rid of a marketed drug rather than a pipeline product to resolve antitrust concerns.

Bruce Hoffman, director of the FTC's Bureau of Competition, announced this policy with respect to complex pharmaceutical products. While he...

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